Battle of Antioch (218) 218
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
About the battle
The Battle of Antioch (8 June 218) was fought between the Roman army of the Emperor Macrinus and his rival Elagabalus, whose troops were commanded by General Gannys, probably a short distance from Antioch. Gannys's victory led to Macrinus's downfall as emperor and his replacement by Elagabalus.
Macrinus was elevated to the throne with the support of the Roman army following the assassination of his predecessor, Caracalla, by a disaffected soldier whilst on campaign against Parthia on 8 April 217. Macrinus may have played a role in orchestrating the assassination. He inherited all of the problems that Caracalla's reign had left for Rome: war against Parthia, threats from Armenia and Dacia, and extensive fiscal expenditures. Macrinus successfully concluded a peace with Parthia, but at considerable cost to Rome and implemented policies to reduce monetary expenditures which stoked discontent within the military.
Caracalla's aunt, Julia Maesa, took advantage of the soldiers's discontent, spending her wealth to champion her grandson, Elagabalus, as the rightful heir to the empire. Elagabalus, chief priest of the god Elagabal, was proclaimed emperor by the soldiers of Legio III Gallica at their camp in Raphanea on 16 May 218.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Antioch (218) (revision 1370446284), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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